nnnftfl QTSJ r"C C In filling all orders i feature of our business. 

r ttllmr I ifl^^ '" ■ Any Play, Dialogue Book, Speaker, 

,ffc " ww t -in fact anything you 



vnt win V" 



AMES' PUBLISHING CO., Clyde, Ohio 



AMES' SERIES OF 

STANDARD AND MINOR DRAMA, 



~n. 



No. 313 



A Matchmaking 
Father. 



(FAl 



\NL> RXITS, . RKLATIVK POSITIONS Of 
THK PR1 IF COSTOMKS AND 

THF WHO! TAttK hUSINi I.LY 

"PY. 



::. . .; 



PRICE 15 CENTS. 



CLYDE, OHIO ; 
AMES' PUBLISHING CO, 



M 



*£*- No goods sent CO. D. Money MUST accompany all orders. 



<¥ 



ALPHABETICAL LIST DF 



^ 



iimes' Edition nf Flays. 

FIFTEEN CENTS EACH UNLESS OTHERWISE MARKED. 



NO. 

294 

2 

164 

39 

43 
100 
125 

89 
113 
226 

14 
272 
160 
268 
161 

60 
152 
27!) 
173 
143 
162 
255 
300 

283 
117 
52 
76 
141 
26 
191 
194 

3 

M 

261 



251 

163 

91 

36 

34 

22:^ 

298 

223 

81 

85 

83 

196 

29 

2" y, 

301 

18 



no 



3i 



M. F. 

DRAMAS. 

Arthur Eustace, 25e 10 4 

A Desperate Game 3 2 

After Ten Years j 5 

A Lifit'sEevenge 7 5 

Arrah de Baugh 7 5 

Aurora Floyd 7 2 

Aukl Robin Gray 25c 13 8 

Beauty of Lyons 11 2 

Bill Detrick 7 3 

Brae, the Poor House Girl.... 4 4 

B rigands of Cal abr ia 6 1 

Beyond Pardon 7 5 

Conn: or, Love's Victory 11 3 

Cle .ring the Mists 5 3 

Dora 5 2 

Driven to the Wall 10 3 

Driven from Home 7 4 

Dutch Jake 4 3 

East Lynne 8 i 

Emigrant's Daughter 8 3 

Fielding Manor 9 6 

Gertie's Vindication 3 3 

Grandmother Hildebrand's 

L'gacv, 2ic 5 4 

Haunted bv a Shadow 8 2 

Hal Hazard, 25o 10 3 

Henrv Granden 11 8 

How He Did It 3 2 

Hidden Treasures 4 2 

Hunter of the Alps 9 4 

Hidden Hand 15 7 

Lights and Shadows ot the 

Great Rebellion, 25c in 5 

Lady of Lyons 12 5 

Ladv Audley's Secret 6 4 

Lost in London 6 4 

Man and Wife 12 7 

Maud's Peril 5 3 

Midnight Mistake 6 2 

Millie, the Quadroon 5 6 

Miriam's Crime 5 |2 

Michael Erie 8 3 

Miller of Derwent Water 5 2 

Mistletoe Bough 7 3 

Mountebanks (The) 6 2 

New York Book Auent 7 3 

Old Honesty 5 2 

Old Phi 1 '8 Birthday 5 3 

Outcast's Wife 12 3 

Out on the Wo Id 5 4 

Oath Bound 6 2 

Painter of Ghent 5 3 

Penn Haogo d 1<) 3 

Peleg and Peter. 25c 4 2 

Poacher's Doom < s 3 

Phee'im O'Rookes' Curse 8 3 

Phyllis, the Beggar Girl 6 3 

Rpverses 12 6 

Rock Allen 5 3 



NO. M. F. 

70 Spy of Atlanta, 2">c 14 3 

275 Minple Si.'as 6 3 

266 Sweetbrier 11 5 

144 Thekla 

284 'J he Commercial Drummer.... 6 2 

242 The Dutch Recruit 2'c 14 3 

67 The False Friend 6 1 

97 The Fatal Blow 7 1 

119 The Forty-Niners 10 4 

304 The General Manager 

93 The Gentleman in Black... 

112 The New Magdalen 8 3 

71 The Reward of Crime 5 3 

3)6 The three Hats.:, 4 3 

105 Through Snow and Sunshine 6 4 

°01 Ticket of Leave Man 

293 Tom Blossom 

103 Toodles 7 2 

•277 The Musical Sptain 15 2 

200 Uncle Tom's Cabin 15 7 

2 Wihl Mab 6 2 

121 Will-o'-the-Wisp, 9 4 

41 Won at Last 7 3 

192 Zion 7 4 

TEMPERANCE PLAYS. 

73 At Last 7 1 

75 Adrift 5 4 

187 Aunt Dinah's Pledge 6 3 

254 Dor: the Miner's Daughter... 5 

202 Drunkard [The] 13 5 

185 Drunkar 's Warning 

189 Drunkard's Doom 15 5 

181 Fifte-n Years of a Drunk- 
ard's Life 13 4 

183 Fruits of the Wine Cup 6 3 

104 Lost 2 

146 Our Awful Aunt 4 4 

53 Out in the Streets 6 4 

51 Rescued 5 3 

59 Saved 2 3 

102 Turn of the Tide 7 4 

63 Three Glasses a Day 4 2 

62 Ten Nights in a Bar-Room... 7 3 

58 Wrecked 

COMEDIES. 

168 A Pleasure Trip 7 3 

136 A Lf/al Holiday 5 3 

124 An afflicted Family 7 5 

2Y7 ''aught, in the Act 7 3 

248 Cantured 

173 Caste 

176 Factory Girl 6 3 

207 Heroic Dutchman of '76 8 3 

199 Home I 3 

174 Love's Labor Not Lost 

158 Mr. Hudson's Tiger Hunt i 1 

149 New Years in N. Y .7 6 

37 Not So Bad After All 6 5 



Matchmaking Father; 



OR- 



THE BASHFUL SUITOR 



A FARCE 



IN ONE ACT. 



— BY — 

Shettel and George. 



TO WHICH IS ADDED — 

TF'SCRTPTION OF THE COSTUMES-CAST OF THE CHARACTERS- 
ENTRANCES AND EXITS-RELATIVE POSITIONS OF THE 
PERFORMERS ON THE STAGE, AND THE WHOLE 
OF THE STAGE BUSINESS. 



-0 



Entered according to the act of Congress in the year 1892, by 

'AMES' PUBLISHING CO., 

in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



a. 



CLYDE, OHIO : 

AMES' PUBLISHING CO. 



s-uijX 



I 



£ JL MATCHMAKING FATHER 

CAST OF CHARACTERS. 

Mr. Edgeway - - - ^4 bashful suitor 

Mr. Wiley - - - A matchmaking father, 

Gladys - - - His fair daughter 

Nancy - - His plain daughter 



COSTUMES. 

Mr. Wiley — Sraokina; sown, white vest, dark trousers, 
white shirt and collars, black stripe tie and slippers. 

Mr. Edgeway. — Evening dress. 

Gladys. — A becoming evening dress. 

Nancy.— An unbecoming evening dress; mother-in law 
wig, also bare scalp, for effect in tussel with Edgeway. 



■ x 



PROPERTIES. 

Book and sprinkling can for Gladys ; pipe and cane for 
Wiley. 



TIME— 30 MINUTES. 

r 



TAGE DIRECTIONS. 
ft means Right;, t., Left; R. h.. Right [land; l. h., Left Hani; o., Centre; s. «., 
2dE 1 Second Entrance; u. w-„ Upper Entrance; m. d., Middle Doar; p., tha Flat; 
D. f.', Door in Flat; R. c, Right of Centre; l. C, Left of Centre. 

R. 0. C. L. 0. L. 

*** The reader is supposed to be upon the stage facing the aulienoa. 



A Matchmaking Father- 

. —OK,— 

THE BASHFUL SUITOR. 

SCENE. — Drawing room in Wiley's house — Gladys 
seated on sofa l., with open hook in hand; Wiley 
seated in rocker, smoking pipe. 

Wile//. Your sister, Nancy, spoke to me this morning, 
about having another reception dress. Now, tell me, what 
in thunder! does she want with a reception dress? She 
never receives. I've been decking that girl with silks and 
satins ever since she's been out of her teens — and Lord 
knows how loner that is — 

o 

Gladys. Father ! father ! you are making yourself old 
by worrying so much. 

Wiley. No ! darn it, it's my family that's making me 
old. As I was saying, I've been spending money on that 
girl for clothes for the last thirty-eight years — 

Gladys. Twenty-eight, fa 1 her. 

Wiley. Thirty-eight, I say. Don't I know the ages of 
my young uns ? 

Gladys. Young uns? Why, father, you shock me. 
One would suppose you were right out of the back woods. 

Wiley. I wish to heavens I was in 'em. Money, money, 
dress, dress, they are the only words in a woman's vocabu- 
lary. It is a waste of cash and material to attire Nancy 
in fine raiment. She is positively and hopelessly homely 
and any attempt at adornment makes it all the more evi- 
dent. I have given up all hopes of ever making a match for 
her. 

Gladys Matches, they say, are made in Heaven. 

Wiley. Judging from your sister's luck, they must have 



4 A MATCHMAKING FATHER. 

suspended business up there. Why, there's young Haskins. 
who visited us last summer, a poor, poverty-stricken no- 
body, with no prospects at all. I was certain I could ar- 
range a match between him and Nancy, but when I merely 
hinted at the matter in an off-hand way, just to sound him, 
it scared him half to death, and he hasn't been inside this 
house since that day. Oh! it's no use, no use, I have given 
up all hopes. 

Gladys. It isn't so desperate as you think it is. 
Wiley. Don't be deceived, Gladys. It is a hopeless case. 
Mo r e than that, she even drives your suitors away. 

Gladys. You are mistaken — I have always had as many 
suitors as I desired. Nancy never interferes. Sometimes, 
I think I have indeed 'too many. 

Wiley. Well would it be, if you could share them with 
your less fortunate sister. 

Gladys. How willingly would I give a share of them to 
her. 

Wiley. Why, Gladys, that suggests an idea. Old Mr. 
Edgeway, who was once a suitor for your mother's hand, 
has spoken of a fancy his son has taken for you. Young 
Edgeway, as you know, is a very modest — I might say 
timid young man, but will in course of time, become as bold 
as the majority. 

Gladys. But, father, I will not think of such a thing. 
I had been anticipating a proposal, and now that you ap- 
prise me of his fancy for me, I feel certain of it. If he 
comes, I shall not be at home. 

Wiley. Tut! tut ! listen to me, daughter, listen to me — 
Gladys. I shall not marry the big, awkward, blunder- 
ing, bashful booby. 

Wiley. Hark, my child ! 

Gladys. I shan't! I shan't! I would rather shut my- 
self up in a convent, than marry him. 

Wiley. Will you allow me to speak? I have not im- 
parted my idea to you yet. It is this . When Mr. Edge- 
way proposes to you, like ail young men suffering from too 
much modesty, he will direct his gaze to the floor. Just 
before the crisis you could quietly steal away and allow your 
sister to take your place by his side. We could have the 
room darkened for the occasion. She will gladly accept him, 
of course. When he discovers his mistake, he will be too 



A MATCHMAKING FATHER. g 

abashed to wiggle out of the dilemma. I will then appear 
and, by commenting on their loving attitude, will add to his 
embarassment. Oh ! it's a great scheme and can't fail to 
succeed if you will lend me your aid. 
Gladys. A brilliant idea. 
Wiley. Do you take to it? 

Gladys. I will do my utmost to unite two loving hearts. 

Wiley, {rising) Good girl ! good girl ! if we are blessed 

with success in this venture, I will buy you and your sister 

a dozen gowns apiece — reception, deception or any sort you 

choose. 

Gladys, (leaves sofa, rushes to Wiley and pats him on 
cheek) You are such a dear, old papa. 

Wiley. You are a very dear, little daughter. Good looks 
and good sense. The very image of your departed mother, 
in both features and mind. But, tell me, who in thunder 
does Nancy take after ? 

Gladys, {edging away) Ma always said she much re- 
sembled you. 

Wiley, {thumping on floor with cane) It's a lie! it's a 
lie ! Your mother never said any such thing. I was the 
smartest and handsomest young man in the village. Your 
mother often told me so. 

Gladys. Yes, but that was only when she wanted ice 
cream or something. 

Wiley. We didn't have such stuff in those days. Times 
A^ere hard; young men saved their money and didn't spend 
it foolishly as they do nowadays. 

Gladys. Ma said you used to loose all your change play- 
ing poker behind the barn with the man who is now our 
minister. 

Wiley. Will you quit informing me what your mother 
said? Next thing you will be telling me your mother said 
I was a convict or a hangman. Your imagination is entirely 
to vivid. 

(hell rings 
Gladys. The bell ! the bell ! It's Edgeway ! 
Wiley. What, Edgeway? Don't forget the plan. I 
will find your sister at once and prepare her for her part. 

(stage darketis, exit, Wiley, r. 
Gladys. Poor Edgeway ! poor unsuspecting victim! I 
wouldn't be in his boots for the world. 



6- A MATCHMAKING FATHER. 

Enter, Edgeway, c. 

Edgeway. Miss Gladys — Miss Wiley, I say — excuse me 
do I find you at home ? 

Gladys. Good evening, Mr. Edgeway ; I am so glad to 
see you once again. 

Edgeway. I am so glad — you are so glad — Gladys — I 
mean Miss Wiley. 

Gladys. Be seated, Mr. Edgeway. (Edgeway crosses 
to chair, Gladys seats herself on sofa — coughing) Here's 
the sofa. 

Edgeway. I — I perceive. 

{crosses to sofa ami takes seat beside Gladys. 

Gladys. This is more comfortable than a chair. 

Edgeway. No — that is — I presume it may be Do you 
think it will rain to-morrow ? 

Gladys. Why do you ask me ? Do you want to go 
picnieing ? Really, I dare not say, tor fear I would tell you 
wrong. 

Interval of silence, daring which Edgeway fidgets and 
twiddles his thumbs, Gladys toys languidly with 
handkerchief 

Edgeway. I fear — you are — not interested in my con- 
versation, (face turned from her 

Gladys. Oh ! deeply interested. 

Edgeway. You don't say so. Now — what was — I — 
about to remark. 

Gladys. Something brilliant, I feel certain. 

Edgeway, Your adulation — Miss Wiley — will turn my 
head. 

Gladys, (aside) Would to goodness it would. It would 
be much more pleasant than speaking to his back, (aloud) 
I always lavish praise where merits invites it. 

Edgeway. You do me — too much honor, I assure you. 
(interval of silence — business) ■ Is — is your father well? 

Gladys. In very good health, thank you. 

Edgeway. It noticed — you were out walking yesterday 
— with your aunt, I presume. 

Gladys, Beg pardon, that was my sister. 

Edgeway. Pardon me. By the way — Miss Wiley, I 
would like to tell you — a little story. 

Gladys. Please tell it, I love stories. 



A MATCHMAKING FATHER. 7 

Edgeway. Now let me— think. I must recall the story. 
But I fear it will bore you. 

Gladys. Go on ! I am already interested. 

Edgeway. There was once a young man, I knew him 
personally. I — er — attended his wedding recently. 

Gladys. Is this a romance, Mr. Edgeway? 

Edge 'ray. It — is — nothing, — if not romance. He — loved 
a young lady of my acquaintance. He loved her deeply. 
He was always — timid about — proposing to tlie young lady, 
knowing well it would kill him if jilted by her. He didn't 
want to die young, so he put on the matter of proposal. Of 
course he did not want to wait until the lady was old before 
he married her, and then too some other chap might step 
between them. Procrastination was dangerous. But — I fear 
— I am not telling this well 

(mopes his firow with handkerchief 

Gladys. Do proceed. I don't like stories to end so 
abruptly. 

Edgeway. Well, at last Chollie — that is his name — mus- 
tered sufficient courage to pop the question. The lady wisely 
accepted. 

Gladys. What an exciting tale. You ought to write it 
up for a magazine. 

Edgeway. What do you think of the lover ? 

Gladys. He is just my ideal. I detest bold men. 

Edgeway. Putting yourself in the lady's place, would 
you have done as she ? (looks air ty from her 

Enter, Nancy, l., takes Gladys place, unseehby Edgeway, 
Gladys exit, l. 

Nancy. Putting myself in her place, I think I would 
have done as she. 

Edgeivay. inside) That's encouraging. Til do it with 
one bold stroke, [a I mid — to Nancy, without looking up) 
The story I have told is but a plain statement of my own 
case. I am here to plead for your hand. 

Nancy. It is yours. 
. Edgeway. .Darling ! (looking up) Great Ceasar! What 
have I done ? 

Enter, Wiley, r. 

Wiley. You have proposed to my Nancy. I bless you, 
my children. 



A MATCHMAKING FATHER. 

Edgeway. The devil ! I don't understand this, sir! 

Wiley. Let me congratulate you, I wish you joy. 

Edgeway. There is a serious mistake here. This is nol 
tne woman I love. 

Nancy. Why Edgie, you said you did, 

Edgeway. This is either a most egregious blunder on my 
part or a most diabolical deception on yours. By the gods, 
you must have resorted to some bit of oriental conjuring. 
(to Mr. Wiley) I proposed to your younger daughter, 
Miss Gladys, she must have vanished, and this one appeared 
in her place. 

Wiley. Mr. Edgeway, this is ridiculous. Why you 
have been making love to Nancy for the last hour. I heard 
you just ask her to marry you. She accepted. You both 
have my consent, and it is my duty as a father, to see that 
this engagement is not broken. You shall marry her. 

{thumps upon floor with cane 

Edgeway. Marry that hag ? Never ! 

Nancy, {leaping to her feet) Oh ! you cruel wretch I 
I'll show you ! {catehes hold of Edgeway 

Edgeway. Murder! murder ! take the blamed thing ofi ! 
She's going to kiss me. 

Nancy. I'm not, you nasty man. 

(grabs Edgeway by hair and drags him about 

Edgeway. Take it off! take it off! 
Wiley, (rapping with cane) Stop ! stop ! this is scan- 
dalous ! Edgeway, let her along, I say. 

Edgeway. Make her stop ! Police ! police ! 

Edgeway grabs her by hair, tearing off wig and exposing 
bare scalp. 

Nancy. Oh ! oh ! (falls fainting on sofa 

Wiley. You young Jack anapes, you have killed her. 

Wiley catches Edgeway by collar and applies cane to his 
back; Gladys rushes in l., with springling can and 
turns spray on Nancy's face. 

CURTAIN 

THE END. 



j5.iiibs' Plays— u antinuerl. 



^ 



Comedies Continued* 

h a F >ol as He Looks 6 3 

>ir Daughters 8 6 

•ugand the Baby 5 3 

3 H 4 

'n>f. James' Experience 

ichint: Country School 4 3 

tgs and Bottles 4 1 

ile with Sharps and Flats.. 3 2 

.Ion Shingle 14 2 

262 Two Bad Boys 7 3 

he Biter Bit 3 2 

131 The Cigarette 4 2 

24IJ $2,000 Reward 2 

TRAGEDIES. 

16 The Serf 6 3 

FARCES & COMEDIETTAS. 



12 

m\ 

31 
21 
123 
20 

175 

s 

22 

249 

\<> 
42 

N- 

224 

154 

274 
2U9 

t,c 
50 



Aa-r-u-ag-oos 

Actor and Servant 

A Colonel's M shap 

A Capita .Match 

A Kiss in the hark 

A Texan ftlother-in-Law 

A Day Well Spent 

A Regular Fix 

ssional Hardener 

Alarmingly Suspicious 

An Awfi 1 Criminal 

A Pet of the Public 

A Romant c Attachment 

A Thrilling Item 

A Ticket of Leave 

Baker 

Half 

Black vs. White, 

Captain Smith 

W ill Win 

Cousin Josiah 

Cupids Capers 

Double Flecti n 

Der Two Surprises , 

Deuce is in Him 

Did Dream it. 

Domes ric Felicity 

Dutch Prize Fighter 

D i itchy vs. Nigger 

Eh? \V at Did You Say 

Everybody Astonished 

Foiling with the Wrong Man 
Freezing a Moiher-in-Law... 

Fun in a Post Office 

Family Discipline 

Family Jars 

Coose with the (iolden Eggs.. 

Cive Me My Wife 

Ha'iabahoola, the Medicine 



Hans, the Dutch J. P 

Hans Brummel's Cafe 



Blum 

How She has Own Way 



NO. tf. r . 

140 How He Popped the Quest'n. 1 1 

74 How t> Tame M-in-Law 4 2 

35 How Stout Your Getting 5 2 

247 Incompatibility- of Temper... 1 2 

95 In the Wrong Clothes 5 3 

3i)5 Jacob Shlaff's Mistake 3 2 

99 Jimmie done* 3 2 

11 John Smith 5 3 

99 Jumbo .Turn 4 3 

S2 Killing Time 1 1 

182 Kittie's Wedding Cake 1 3 

127 Lick Skillet Wedding 2 2 

228 Lauderbach's Little Surprise 3 

3H2 Locked in a Dress-maker's 

Room 3 2 

10t> Lodgings for Two 3 

288 Love in all Corners 5 3 

139 Matrimonial Bliss 1 ] 

231 Match for a other-Miu-Law.. 2 2 
235 More Blunders than one... 

M Mother's Fool 6 1 

23 My Heart's in Highlands 4 3 

2 is My Precious Betsev 4 4 

212 My Turn Next 4 3 

32 M Wife's Relations 4 4 

186 My Day and Now-a-Days 1 

273 My Neighbor's Wife 3 3 

296 Nanka's Leap Year Venture.. 5 2 

259 Nobody's Moke „»... o 2 

44 Obedience 1 2 

33 On the Sly 3 2 

57 Paddy Miles' Boy 5 2 

217 Paten' Washing Machine 4 1 

165 Persecuted Dutchman 6 3 

195 Poor Pilieodv 2 3 

159 Quiet Family 4 4 

171 Rough Diamond 4 3 

180 Ripples 

267 Room 44 2 

48 Sch aps 1 1 

188 Sewing Circle of P-riod 5 

IIS S. H. A. M. Pinafore 3 3 

55 Somebody's Nobody 3 2 

232 Stage Struck Yankee 4 2 

241 Struck bv Lightning - 2 2 

270 Slick and Skinner 5 

1 Slasher and Crasher 5 2 

137 Takimr the Census 1 1 

252 That Awful Carpet Bag 3 3 

40 Th t Mysterious B'dle 2 2 

38 T-.e Bewitched Closet 5 2 

101 The Coming Man 3 1 

167 Turn Him Out ~ 3 2 

291 The Actor's Scheme 4 4 

30S The Irish Squire of Squash 

Ridge 4 2 

285 The Mashers Mashed 5 2 

68 The Sham Prof ssor 4 

295 TheSpellin' Skewl 7 6 

54 The Two T.J's 4 2 

28 i hirty-three Next Birthday.. 4 2 

292 Tim Flannigan 5 

142 Tit for Tat 

276 The Printer and His Devils.. 3 1 



Bi 



j6 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



9- 1 



Ames' Plays — C 



H 



017 400 225 3 
LirrLTxTTIBLL. 






's Chil 



SI 179 

5 94 



111 Yankee Duelist 

ler 7 3 

ETHIOPIAN FARCES, 

201 Academy of Stars fi " 

ti'i Ail Unwelcome Return 



10 Stocks ! 

iil Thiit Bov Sam 



Old Dad's Cab 



Vice Versa 

Villkens and Din:x 

Who St. 
William 

GUIDE BOOKS. 

Hints on Elocution 

Hints to Amateurs 

CANTATA. 



i j 21o On to Victory 

o TABLEAUX. 

11 ! 250 Festival of Davs 

PANTOMIME. 



•1 h 



MAKI UROWN WIGS! 

WOO: 
PREPARED WOOL IS I.V ARTH I \ 77/17 

WIGS! BEARDS! MUST AC HI 

\T VERY LITTLE COST, 
AND WILL BESURE TO GIVE SATISFACTION. 

**** PRICE 50 CENTS PER OUNCE. I 



Bi 



j6 



